Auto- Cadillac will add a Platinum Edition...

Car notes are compiled from the notebooks of Jim Mateja and Rick Popely, and from Tribune news servicesCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Auto

- Cadillac will add a Platinum Edition of the Escalade ESV in February priced at $68,880, not including the $850 destination charge. Standard features include 20-inch chrome wheels, a rear-seat entertainment system with dual screens, power sunroof and DVD-based navigation system, items optional or not available on the base Escalade ESV. The only option for the Platinum Edition will be "white diamond" paint for $995.

- Ford's Special Vehicle Team will build carryover performance models for 2004, take the 2005 model year off and return with new versions of the Mustang Cobra and F-150 Lightning for 2006. The '04 models continuing from 2003 are the SVT Focus, the Mustang Cobra and the F-150 Lightning. The 2006 Lightning will be based on the new F-150 and the 2006 Cobra on next year's Mustang.

FYI

- Nissan Motor Co. expects sales in China to quadruple by 2007 as Japan's third-biggest carmaker plays catch-up in the world's fastest growing major car market. Dongfeng Motor, which is half owned by Nissan, expects to sell 74,000 cars in China this year, 90,000 in 2004 and 300,000 in 2007, says Katsumi Nakamura, chief executive of the venture. Dongfeng also would sell 226,000 trucks, vans and buses this year, with sales rising to 320,000 in 2007, Nakamura says.

- Ford Motor Co. plans to spend $325 million to upgrade Michigan and Ohio plans that will build new six-speed automatic transmissions with improved fuel efficiency, the automaker says. Ford says it will spend $170 million at its transmission plant in Livonia, Mich., and $155 million at Sharonville, Ohio. Sharonville will make gears for the transmission and ship them to Livonia for final assembly. Executive Vice President Jim Padilla says the new transmissions will improve fuel efficiency an average 4 to 8 percent over a traditional 4-speed automatic transmission.